Central American Trade Statistics

Foreign Trade Statistics for the period July to September 2011 by the Central American Economic Integration Secretariat.

Central American trade (exports + imports) reached $60,780 million during the first nine months of 2011. This exchange is 21.9% higher than in the same period last year, equivalent in absolute terms to an increase of $10,922.4 million.

The increase was driven by a 20.5% growth in cumulative exports from January to September 2011, along with a rise of 22.7% in imports in the same period of time in respect to the previous year.

Intra-regional trade amounted to $5,364 million during the period January to September 2011. For its part, the U.S. remains the largest destination for Central American exports with 32.3%, and ranks as the largest supplier of imports with 40.9% of total imports during the period.

The trade deficit reached $18,715 accumulated during the period January to September 2011, representing an increase of 22.4% compared to the same period in 2010. At the intraregional level, Guatemala has the highest surplus, with $275.3 million, while Honduras has the highest intra-regional deficit, with $216.0 million.